Cryptocurrency, powered by blockchain technology, has taken the world by storm. That said, while Bitcoin primarily found its application in payments and transactions, Ethereum extended its functionalities to include other financial operations. One such application of Ethereum is - Decentralized Finance or DeFi projects.
In recent years, Decentralized Exchanges (DEX) and DeFi protocols like Automatic Market Maker (AMM) have garnered a lot of attention. In this article, we delve into the major DeFi projects to watch out for.
Let’s get started.
Top 7 DeFi Projects to Look for in May 2023
DAO Maker
DAO Maker is a provider of growth-focused solutions that offers SaaS services for evolving and crypto start-ups. With its main product DAO Pad, a multi-investment platform, it lets DAO token holders take part in the presales activities of thoroughly verified projects. Some examples of major projects in DAO Maker include My Neighbor Alice (ALICE), Orion Protocol (ORN), and Infinity Pad (IPAD).
Apart from the product DAO Pad, it provides an array of services, including incubation, operations, and advisory. The platform uses its native utility token DAO which can be used in token sales on DAO Pad.
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Sushiswap
Sushiswap is an Ethereum-based token exchange DeFi platform that uses the Uniswap protocol. It supports cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, and Stellar Lumens. Sushiswap supports over 11,700 currency pairs, making it the largest Decentralized Exchange (DEX) in terms of available cryptos. While it is a hard fork of Uniswap, over time, it improved the functionalities of its code significantly.
With its native token $SUSHI, it brings several benefits like liquidity provider-centric incentives, security audit approval, and an extensive reward system.
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Yearn. finance
Yearn. finance is a series of protocols operating on the Ethereum blockchain that lets users optimize their income on crypto assets through trading and lending services. It is an emerging DeFi project which adopts the codes to perform all the operations, eliminating the need for any third party or intermediary. It does this using $YFI, its native cryptocurrency, which helps build a system of automated incentives. You can earn the YFI tokens by locking cryptos on DeFi platforms like Balancer and Curve using the yearn. finance interface. The platform offers services - Earn, Zap and APY to lend or trade cryptocurrency with users.
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Compound
Similar to several Decentralized Finance (DeFi) protocols, Compound runs on smart contracts built on the Ethereum blockchain. As a DeFi tool, Compound lets users lend or borrow loans by locking their crypto assets in the protocol. The supply and demand of crypto in the market determines the interest rates for the loan. You are free to repay the loans and unlock your crypto assets anytime. The compound offers its native token, cTokens, which allows users to lend, borrow, trade, or transfer their assets on the platform.
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Balancer
Balancer is a DeFi platform, popular in the category of Automated Market Maker (AMM) that swaps assets based on ERC-20 without the need for processing trades using order books. In addition, it provides its own token BAL that lets users govern the protocol. Over time, decentralized platforms like Balancer have become a source of passive income. The basic functionality of AMM is that it uses an algorithm to manage orders instead of the conventional bid/ask system used by centralized exchanges.
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Gnosis
Launched in 2015, Gnosis is a decentralized prediction market residing on top of the Ethereum network. Though Gnosis serves as an open framework, these prediction markets are accomplished on third-party dApps built on the Gnosis chain, like Azuro and Omen. These platforms are used to forecast the outcomes of sports tournaments, political events, crypto prices, and more.
Other examples of products developed by Gnosis include Gnosis Auction and Zodiac, which are known as Conditional tokens. They help in creating highly liquid prediction markets with the value of assets in relation to the outcome of the event.
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Theta Fuel
Theta Fuel (TFUEL) is an operational 2nd token from the Theta protocol and works in tandem with the Theta token (THETA) that we have today. It is akin to the “gas” of the platform, which makes it possible for users to manage payments for streaming a video or work on smart contracts. There are two reasons to introduce this token. First, the purposes and utility of the two tokens are demarcated.
While THETA is for staking on the network, TFUEL powers the operations of the network. Second, a need for two tokens arises to solve the governance issues that may arise with the same token used for staking and operational activities.
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Wrapping up
Decentralized Finance, DeFi is no longer a neologism but turning into a norm. As the crypto space matures, DeFi will find innovative solutions to complex real-world financial problems. Some of the key DeFi projects are covered above.
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